Her parents were both doctors in the field of osteoarthritis. They opened the clinic together and worked there. Her father is Canadian of French descent, so French is her first language. Brie mainly studied at home because she thought that it would bring more creative experiences than school. When Brie shared about her childhood, she said that she was close to her mother, who was shy and suffering from a social anxiety disorder.
Since she was young, she practiced writing and directing movies about her family story. She filmed in the garage and with her cousins.
At the age of six, she began to show interest and dream of becoming an actress. In the same year, she auditioned for a training program at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and became the youngest admitted student.
Brie Larson suffered the loss of her parents’ divorce when she was only seven years old. She moved with her mother and sister to Los Angeles to continue her dream of acting.
They had financial constraints and had to live in a small apartment near Hollywood studios in Burbank. Brie recounted her life at the time: “We lived in a shabby one-room apartment, with a bed beside the wall, and each person had only three clothes.”
Despite the difficulty, the actress said that she always cherished beautiful memories during those difficult times when her mother always tried to do the best she could for her two daughters.
The name Brie Larson stems from her Swedish grandmother’s surname because her real surname is too difficult to pronounce. She also shared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that her stage name was named after Kirsten Larson, an American Girl doll she received as a child.
Starting her career at the young age
Brie started her acting career at the age of 8, with comedy showed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Her first lead role was Emily in the sitcom Raising Dad of WB with the content about a single-dad. The series showed on the TV broadcast schedule from 2001 to 2001. However, some criticism led to the cancellation of it after 22 episodes.
However, the film earned Brie the first nomination of her career for the Best Acting category in the comedy series, and the Best Actress in a Young Artist Awards.
In 2003, she starred with actress Beverley Mitchell in Disney Channel film Queen of the Track. In the same year, she began to hone her musical skills.
The music career of Brie Larson
Brie Larson had an interest in music at the age of 11 when she started learning to play the guitar. Getting encouragement from a music director, she composed, recorded, and uploaded the music on her own website.
After not being selected for the role of Wendy Darling in the movie Peter Pan in 2003, Brie wrote and recorded a song called Invisible Girl, which was broadcast on KIIS-FM.
Brie Larson and Lindsay Lohan signed a record contract with Tommy Mottola at the time. A year later, she starred in the teen movie Sleepover and took a small role in Teenage Girl 13.
In 2005, she devoted herself to her music career with the album Finally Out of P.E. She co-wrote songs with other musicians, including Blair Daly, Pam Sheyne, Lindy Robbins, and Holly Brook.
One of her singles, which appeared in the Total Request Live series, was listed on the weekly list of the most played videos by Billboard. It also reached number 31 on the Billboard Hot Single Sales.
Brie has toured with Jesse McCartney at Rock in Shop concerts. It opened the Beautiful Soul tour of McCartney with the performance in New York City during parades.
However, her album did not really succeed when the sale number was just over three thousand copies. Brie later admitted that her dream for her music career was over. She wanted to write her own songs but the record company didn’t allow it.
She shared that she wanted to wear comfortable sneakers and a guitar in her hand, but the company wanted her to wear colorful clothes, high heels, and a stylized bob.
Her last public appearance as a music artist was in 2010 when she performed the song Black Sheep with the band Metric in the film Scott Pilgrim vs the World.
Returning to the acting career
In the following years, she focused on her acting career but she didn’t have much luck.
In 2006, Brie starred in the comedy Hoot with Logan Lerman and Cody Linley. The content was about a group of young people ‘s journey to rescue owls. She also took part in composing and recording the Hoot soundtrack, which was Coming Around.
Although the film received poor reviews, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Ruthe Stein appreciated Brie and Linley for succeeding in blowing souls into the role Indiana Jones.
A year later, she played a supporting role in the drama Remember the Daze with the participation of two stars, Amber Heard and Leighton Meester.
Brie Larson once said that she often considered giving up acting because she found it difficult to find the roles, partly because filmmakers didn’t give her more opportunities.
The frustration became bigger and bigger when she lost the leading roles in some movies. She had worked as a DJ in clubs as a way to encourage herself.
In 2009, Brie played Kate Gregson, the surly teenage daughter who had to deal with her mother’s separation anxiety disorder in the comedy TV series United States of Tara on the channel Showtime.
Alessandra Stanley, the co-founder of Air Mail, praised Brie Larson’s acting for a very real sense of youth.
Brie said the journey to find the meaning of the character’s life reflected her own life. She was very sad due to the cancellation of the show after three seasons in 2011.
Related: Brie Larson Then and Now with Ups & Downs in Her Career (Part 1)
